Naruto Missing Arc: The Village Hidden in Chaos!
by exFlygon
Summary: A story I came up with about the arc of Naruto that never will be. Set after episode 100. The first chapter is up now! OCs inside from the Hidden Chaos Village! Spoilers from episodes past 100 inside, so beware. All pairings are IC.
1. Episode Negative 101:Kaosugakure!

**Naruto Missing Arc: The Village Hidden in Chaos**

"This mission is very uneventful." Said Raido Namiashi, squatting down on a bare tree branch.

"It's supposed to be, but there were reports of strange figures around this area. We have to investigate either way." reminded Asuma Sarutobi.

The three ninja sat in the forest, one taking a deep puff of the cigarette he had, another adjusting the sunglasses he had on, and the third with a scar down the left side of his face. They were Aoba Yamashiro, Asuma Sarutobi, and Raido Namiashi, all ninja of Konohakagure- the Hidden Leaf Village. They had been send by the Hokage TsunadeSama to investigate a disturbance in Konoha's forests. They had no idea that they would soon find it...

_Naruto Episode -101: Kaosugakure: The Village Hidden in Chaos _

Then, within a split second, the forest erupted into battle. A huge... something... broke out from right under Raido, and swung two tentacles at Asuma and Aoba respectively. The two high-class ninja blocked, but it took all of their might to keep this enemy at bay. They took a look at their attacker for the first time. He was a man in a simmering grey cloak, wearing a lighter shade of grey shirt and pants beneath it. He had several scrolls latched to a device on his back. Its purpose seemed to be to carry the scrolls. He rode on the back of a large, brown squid. He pulled one scroll from his robe.

"Summoning Water Style: Great Tunnel Squid." He simply said, he slid a bleeding finger across a scroll and there was a puff of smoke. Then a second squid appeared, knocking Aoba away and forcing Asuma to face the enemy alone.

"Now," said the stranger, "Secret Art: Warp Point!" And he unfurled another scroll. He placed his hand to it and a masked ninja appeared in a puff of smoke. He wore a white mask with two red tiger stripes on each cheek. It also had the Kumogakure plate attached to the forehead, which had been crossed out, signifying that he was a rouge ninja. From what could be seen, he had hair that extended to either side and fell in spikes. He too wore the grey outfit.

"About time." He whined.

"You know the mission then?" Asked the other sternly, watching Asuma struggle with the squid.

"Of course. I've been preparing for this day, you know." He reminded the other.

"Then go." With those words, he focused his full attention on Asuma while the other jumped away. "Okay, then, I'd love to stick around, but I have places to be." His second squid struck Asuma against a tree, knocking him unconscious.

"Well, I'll see you later then." He said, smirking beneath his hood. He then vanished in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Below, the citizens of Konoha seemed to be but ants, inferior in ways to him. It was one of the things that made him feel like he deserved more, deserved greater power. And so he had left his village, joining the Lost Soul Society, what those in the organization acknowledged as the sixth major village- Kaosugakure, the Village Hidden in Chaos.

And chaos he would bring, descending upon these unworthy twats with the full force of his self-proclaimed power.

"Hey."

The masked man's daydreaming abruptly ceased, as he turned to find a ninja watching him. It was probably a chuunin, by the looks of it, as he had on a vest similar to the ones those jounin had been wearing. His hair was done up on a ponytail, and he had a bored expression on his face.

"What do you want, boy?" He asked, sliding the mask down so one of his gleaming yellow eyes was revealed.

"Looks to me like you're not supposed to be here." He motioned to the crossed out Kumo symbol on hid mask. "Are you lost?"

"And who are you to decide that?"

He pointed to the headband tied around his right arm. "Nara Shikamaru, chuunin of the Hidden Leaf village." His gaze never once faltered from the enemy's, "and you are?"

Beneath his mask, the ninja's eyes lit up. "Nara, the clan of Shadows…" What a treat to be up against one of them. He replied to the question in a tone of indifference.

"If I must have a name, call me Rai." He too watched his opponent, gauging his reaction and stance. "I assume you can't just let me be on my way, can you?"

The Nara shook his head sadly, "sorry. It's gotta be either you answering my questions, or me making you answer them." He reached into his weapons pouch, expecting a battle, "which would you prefer."

Rai was silent but for a moment, as if mulling it over, "Either way, we both know what it will come down to." And suddenly he formed a hand seal, jerking his head up to reveal his smirk.

"Lightning Style: Electric Breath Jutsu!"

A stream of bright blue energy rampaged from the missing ninja's mouth, subsequently knocking Shikamaru off the building and plummeting towards the streets below.

* * *

Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief. He had been lucky. The pure energy produced from that blast could have killed him if he had not reacted.

He hung upside down from the edge of the roof, looking down upon the city streets below. It was apparent that he had been incredibly auspicious in that aspect. Now… now he had to capture and arrest this enemy he knew next to nothing about, preferably without losing his life.

How troublesome….

Without skipping a beat, he designed a plan and put it into action. Twisting himself back into an upright position, he threw a handful of ninja stars at the stunned enemy. He, of course, retaliated with his own technique.

"Ninja Art: Electromagnetic Field!"

The kunai Shikamaru had thrown off course bounced off the edges of the magnetic force field. However, one was caught in limbo between the Nara and his opponent. That had worked out better than he had planned.

Rai, of course, taunted him, "That was it? You spent your time coming up with that!? Ridiculous… "

Meanwhile, the clever chuunin grinned. "Look at that kunai a second. Its tied to a string. And that string… will lead me right to you."

At that point of course, it was already too late. Rai was caught in his Shadow, and could only mimic his captors every move. He was starting to worry; that was clear, even with his mask on. But then, what self respecting shinobi wouldn't?

Then suddenly, he scoffed. Shikamaru couldn't quite figure out why at first, but then he realized something. He had known Shikamaru's last name! He was at least mildly familiar with the Nara clan techniques. He had expected this from the start.

It was too late to react. The clone exploded into a shower of sparks that shot everywhere. Shikamaru dove for cover and found it in the form of a small cubicle jutting from the roof that led to the stairs. He managed to avoid any serious injuries, luckily, but he now had no idea where his opponent was.

"Looking for me?"

He looked upwards, from where the voice had originated. There, standing horizontally on the wall above the chuunin, was the masked ninja. Shikamaru reacted as quickly as possible.

"Ninja Art: Shadow Blade Jutsu!"

His shadow twisted itself into the form of several blades, intent on cutting at his opponent's shadow. It was one of the secret Nara clan techniques his father had taught him when he achieved chuunin. It was mechanically simple. Any wound his shadow inflicted on his enemy's shadow became very real and very painful. It seemed Rai recognized this, as he fell against the wall to shorten his shadow, putting it out of reach from Shika's shadow. That was easily remedied. All he needed to do was move closer to the-

He was frozen in place. Some otherworldly force was holding him in place. He could see his enemy above, holding the tiger seal in position, grinning down upon his foe.

"Ninja Art: Electromagnetic Field."

He was forcing energy onto the chuunin! As long as it resisted the force he put into moving forwards, he was being pressured back by a magnetic barrier! Quite unfortunately, the Nara had been caught in limbo, much like his kunai knife had. Now, unless he applied pressure greater than the field, he was utterly stuck while the enemy inched his way up high enough that he could stand and reach his weapon pouch.

"Aw man, how troublesome!!" he cried, desperately struggling to break free in either direction. His enemy crept up, slowly but surely. Being on his back in midair caused difficulty when it came to moving. He had to keep the charka flowing, not through the soles of his feet, but through the entire back half of his body. However, Shikamaru was having equal amounts of difficulty with his escape attempt. How could he have been so foolish as to fall for this ploy!? His opponent had fallen just one step ahead of him. But it was one hell of an important step…

Finally, Rai could stand up without fear of being cut by the Shadow Blades. He stood, looking down on his prey. A single bead of sweat formed on his brow. Only one. At last it would be time to end this game. He drew a kunai from his pouch, and hurled it at the enemy below.

It was at this time that a few things happened. First, the blades retracted and reformed the Nara's natural shadow. Second, the kunai bounced off the concrete below. Third and last, the pressure produced by the field was disturbed and Shikamaru fell backwards just in time.

"Ugh…" he stood up, dusting himself off quickly, "Too close…"

However, he had very littler options at this point. His enemy knew all of his clan's jutsu, and worse, he was exhausted. This was most definitely troublesome. What was he to do?

* * *

Rai grinned beneath his mask. His opponent was running out of options. There was not much of a choice. Rai had to preserve as much charka as possible to complete this mission. He would have to use… a forbidden jutsu.

He formed hand seals, watching his foe wrack their brains desperately below. There would not be enough time to play cat and mouse again. He would finish this with as little chakra as possible.

"Forbidden Art: Dead Soul Revival!"

He placed his hand on the ground, as if to summon something, but instead a body emerged, in the likeness of Rai himself. It had all of his skills and abilities, but it was no clone. It was a living breathing copy that existed for as long as it had the will to fight.

"Destroy him."

That was all he needed to say. The body lunged at Shikamaru. Meanwhile, Rai dashed away to complete his true mission. He had no time to dawdle. Leaping away, he left his enemy to deal with the dead soul.

He smiled yet again. It was turning out to be quite the eventful mission, wasn't it? His next opponent would surely be the last he had to deal with. Yes, it would be quite an eventful mission indeed…

* * *

He was training alone, thoughts of his past fueling him on. The rock before him had one gaping hole in it, and he aimed to make a second, even a third if he could.

Why!? Why was he so useless!? He had been like a toy in the man's hand, a toy that needed to be discarded… that man… his terrifying gaze, and his unforgivable acts still haunted him… his brother, Itachi…

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

An unfamiliar voice called to him. He turned to see who it was that dared to address him. A man in a mask stood before him in a monotonous grey outfit. He could feel their gazes meet. His Sharingan eyes active, he had no fears that this man would intimidate him, whoever he was. He was a missing ninja, by the look of his headband, one from Kumogakure.

"I am here to apprehend and capture you, as is the mission given by my leader, the Kage of the Hidden Chaos Village."

* * *

b Next Time/b

Sasuke vs. the masked stranger! Who will emerge victorious! Find out in the next installment! Plus, the plot thickens, I promise!

Naruto and its characters aren't mine, every idiot here knows that. If you don't I'm Kishimoto. Fetch me some coffee.The exception is any original characters or jutsu, of course. Those are MINE.


	2. Episode Negative 102: Storm!

He was training alone, thoughts of his past fueling him on. The rock before him had one gaping hole in it, and he aimed to make a second, even a third if he could.

Why!? Why was he so useless!? He had been like a toy in the man's hand, a toy that needed to be discarded… that man… his terrifying gaze, and his unforgivable acts still haunted him… his brother, Itachi…

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

An unfamiliar voice called to him. He turned to see who it was that dared to address him. A man in a mask stood before him in a monotonous grey outfit. He could feel their gazes meet. His Sharingan eyes active, he had no fears that this man would intimidate him, whoever he was. He was a missing ninja, by the look of his headband, one from Kumogakure.

"I am here to apprehend and capture you, as is the mission given by my leader, the Kage of the Hidden Chaos Village."

_Naruto Episode -102: A Storm of Lightning and Fire!_

He smirked, watching the man on the boulder above him. So, yet another loser missing ninja wanted to try their hand at capturing him, huh? Not on his watch. He had already used the technique once today, but maybe a moving target would be a better one for his second.

"Is that so?" He grasped his right wrist in his left hand, "I suppose there's nothing I can do but…" the chakra erupted into a chatter of a thousand chirping birds, "…slice you in half!"

The enemy Chuckled and formed the tiger seal, "Are you sure you want to do that? After all, unlike you, my lightning blade does not have a limited amount of uses." With that, a blade of energy protruded from his right hand.

Sasuke roared with exhilaration, and rushed at the enemy headlong. He leapt into the air and pulled his hand back, ready to throw a punch of epic energy. At the same time, Rai lunged down, intent on meeting Sasuke midway. Their energy attacks collided, and they seemed suspended in midair for a few minutes. Eventually, both attacks fizzled down to a weak energy aura. Then, Rai pointed the two fingers of his left hand at the Uchiha's gut.

"Ninja Art: Energy Katana."

Another blade emerged, slicing right into Sasuke's stomach. His eyes bulged, and he coughed up a glob of blood before smirking and exploding in a cloud of smog. When it cleared, a log was in his place.

"Clever, Uchiha. I expected nothing less."

Sasuke was behind him, shuriken at the ready. He fired the projectiles at his foes back, but Rai turned as if by command. He formed hand seals at a fast pace, and spoke his next words almost twistedly.

"Ninja Art: Electromagnetic Field."

The ninja stars bounced away harmlessly, and both ninja landed on the ground. Without missing a beat, they each began forming hand signs.

"Lightning Style: Electric Breath Jutsu!"

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

The blasts collided. However, as they died down, the collision was only beginning. They each pulled out a kunai knife and leapt at each other, colliding in midair and hitting the ground, then rebounding right back into the air several times. When the dust cleared, Rai was back atop the boulder, and Sasuke was back where he began as well. However, all was not as simple as it seemed. Sasuke smiled, and drew a kunai with an active exploding tag from his pocket.

Rai sighed, "Because one always makes a-" he was cut off when he noticed the inactive tags at the base of his boulder. How had he not noticed!? That was Uchiha's target from the start or their midair combat! He must have slipped them there after they collided!

Before he could react, there was an explosion, and the rock tipped over frontward. Clutching the top, Rai struggled to retain his footing. He was completely vulnerable now! Sasuke, of course, was perfectly fine with that.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Rai scoffed. That was it? That was his big ploy?

"Water Style: Aqua Shockwave!"

He formed a hand seal and sucked a large breath of air in, bloating himself up like a frog. Then he unleashed the breath in a rippling ring of water that spread out quickly. The water smashed against the flames heading towards him and spluttered them out with incredible ease. Then the waves died down.

However, that wasn't all. A wave of kunai knives hidden by the flames appeared suddenly, flying right at Rai.

Sasuke watched as his opponent fell out of view momentarily, evidently having been hit by the kunai. Then, suddenly, he stood again, shortly after losing his balance and toppling down the slope.

The Uchiha smirked, "…guess you failed your mission."

"…the mission was to defeat you… my safety is of no concern to The Superior…"

The clone exploded, point blank, and Sasuke, knocked backwards against his will, banged his head on an overhanging rock. He lost consciousness instantly.

* * *

Rai sighed. He had been overconfident, but then, Rai was not exactly expecting to lose either. He lay on the ground in the other side of the rock, unable to see if the Uchiha had been neutralized. Sighing, he tried to move but found he could not- the pain was too great. He sat there, kunai sticking out of him every which way, in a pool of his own blood. 

He fainted shortly thereafter.

* * *

The battlefield was quiet, a secluded spot in the forests that the Uchiha had unknowingly selected. The birds' chirping was audible as soon as the action died down. The two had clashed, Rai at a sub sequentially lower power level than the Uchiha. It had ended nearly as quickly as it had seemed to begin, the two of them both ending as the loser. It was for a reason such as this that he was there. 

He released the seal, the genjutsu distorting his color, and became visible to the naked eye. It was as if he was slowly losing transparency. In truth, that was just a genjutsu- one that solely belonged to him. It distorted the color of his body to match his surroundings. As the leader had called it, it was a perfect camouflage.

He had grey eyes that were easy to look over if the rest of his body was not there to draw contrast to it. His hair was a matt of white and black, the white atop his head and the black flowing behind him. Like Rai, he had on the cloak- various darker and lighter shades of grey. He was a very intimidating individual in terms of appearance.

He walked up to the Uchiha first, and scooped him up, throwing him over the man's right shoulder. Taking his sweet time walking over, he dropped the hitchhiker on the ground, busying himself with removing the various kunai from Rai's body. As soon as the chore was done, he scooped Rai up and dropped him atop the Uchiha. Then he formed a few hand seals.

"Secret Art: Warp Point."

In a puff of smoke, the three vanished completely.

* * *

Tsunade sat in her office, sifting through countless amounts of paperwork, marveling at all the missions the village had. Considering the amount of losses after the Sound had waged war on them, it was an especially bad time to be swamped with assignments. There was only one thing that could make this scenario worse, and it was running through the door right now. 

"L-Lady Tsunade!"

The woman looked up at her assistant, slightly concerned and annoyed, "What is it, Shizune?"

The assistant stumbled over letters until she managed to form a coherent sentence, "I-It's Asuma. He's in bad condition, Shikamaru, as well. They both met with dangerous shinobi, suspected to be missing ninja. Uchiha Sasuke is missing, as well, possibly the target of a kidnapping."

"And how bad is it?" she asked, hoping Shizune was just overreacting.

She said nothing, hesitating, perhaps gathering her thoughts. Finally, she spoke, "Rumors of a new Hidden Village had emerged among Feudal Lords before the Chuunin Exams began. Of course they were hushed up due to uncertainty. You see, a large number of incredibly gifted shinobi had all mysteriously vanished before that time. Shortly following that, whispers of 'Kaosugakue', the Village Hidden in Chaos spread, and it led them to suspect that these shinobi had been harvested, so to speak. Even a few ninjas from Konoha went missing during the time."

Tsunade sighed, "What's the point of all this, Shizune? I'm very busy."

"Well, Asuma was unconscious when I visited him, but Shikamaru wasn't. The description he gave of the enemy matched perfectly with a missing ninja from Kumogakure. The damage inspection revealed that techniques those ninja used were forbidden jutsu and other powerful techniques that could not be learned without an incredibly powerful teacher. Lady Tsunade, they could very well be a part of this Village!"

She nodded, "I see. Now, what can I possibly do about this?"

"One of them escaped using some sort of Warp Jutsu-"

"The Fourth's?" Tsunade suddenly inquired.

"No, I'm pretty sure it was different," Shizune explained before continuing, "The other one, however, appears to have walked back after injuring Asuma. He must have only been there to escort the other. I think his job was to kidnap Sasuke. If we can get some Trackers right now-"

"Can't do it."

"Wh-why not, Lady Tsunade?" cried Shizune

"All our trackers are swamped down. There's nobody in Konoha who can track them I'm afraid… unless…"

…

A few minutes later, Inuzuka Kiba was in the Hokages office, alongside his teammates and sensei. His dog Akamaru sat nestled in his unruly brown hair. Hinata, beside him, twiddled her index fingers, watching the Hokage out of the corner of her eyes. Shino, stoic as ever, stood behind the others, surveying the scene… at least, as far as anyone could tell…. Kurenai was standing beside Shino, watching the Hokage and awaiting their mission. To anyone but her team, the glint of worry in the corner of her eye was nearly invisible.

Tsunade began speaking, "Well, I suppose you will want to know what your mission is. It's an important one, and, as short-handed as we are, you are the only team who can do this."

"Uchiha Sasuke has gone missing. We need you to track a ninja who was involved in his kidnapping. Once you arrive, you are to scout out the area. This is a C-Rank mission, but if you run into any enemies, it may become an A-Rank. Therefore, I'm sending an additional teammate to help you out."

There were footsteps outside the door. They were swift and clumsy, and Kiba, with his innate hearing, instantly knew who it was and groaned. The door burst open.

"Alright! The number one ninja in the Leaf Village is here!! Uzumaki Naruto!!"

* * *

**Next Time!**

The mission to rescue Sasuke begins! The team of five sets out towards what may be the hideout of a village more deadly that Otogakure! Plus, maybe a Giant Bone Serpent!

* * *

I obviously don't own Naruto, though I do regularly stalk Hinatasama.

* * *


	3. Episode Negative 103: Scouting Mission!

_Sorry for the delay, loyal... well, loyal fan. xD I only have one review. I love this story, so I'll keep it up regardless, but I'd appreciate if anyone reading this would tell me where I need improvements. Please and thankyou!_

_exFlygon_

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba was in the Hokages office, alongside his teammates and sensei. His dog Akamaru sat nestled in his unruly brown hair. Hinata, beside him, twiddled her index fingers, watching the Hokage out of the corner of her eyes. Shino, stoic as ever, stood behind the others, surveying the scene… at least, as far as anyone could tell…. Kurenai was standing beside Shino, watching the Hokage and awaiting their mission. To anyone but her team, the glint of worry in the corner of her eye was nearly invisible.

Tsunade began speaking, "Well, I suppose you will want to know what your mission is. It's an important one, and, as short-handed as we are, you are the only team who can do this."

"Uchiha Sasuke has gone missing. We need you to track a ninja who was involved in his kidnapping. Once you arrive, you are to scout out the area. This is a C-Rank mission, but if you run into any enemies, it may become an A-Rank. Therefore, I'm sending an additional teammate to help you out."

There were footsteps outside the door. They were swift and clumsy, and Kiba, with his innate hearing, instantly knew who it was and groaned. The door burst open.

"Alright! The number one ninja in the Leaf Village is here!! Uzumaki Naruto!!"

_Naruto Episode -103: Scouting Mission! Team Eight plus One Sets Out!_

The team of five ninja and a dog set out into the forests. Kiba was sniffing the air, desperately trying to keep hold of the targets scent. Closely following behind him was Shino, then Nauto, followed by Kurenai, and lastly Hinata.

Suddenly, the Inuzuka screeched to a halt. Sniffing the air a couple times to be sure, he turned to his team and announced his findings.

"The scent dies out here, it's replaced by a completely different one," he took another whiff of the forest, "I don't think this scent is human, either…"

Kurenai nodded, "The Hokage did mention he seemed adept at summoning techniques. I guess its no surprise that he might have decided to ride one of his creatures back to throw us off the trail."

Naruto threw his fist into the air, "Then let's GO!"

Kiba just sighed and began tracking the new scent.

* * *

The scent seemed to carry on forever, lagging and skipping around in unusual patterns. It was as if the enemy was trying to shake them off, as if he expected pursuers. Clearly he did not expect one like Kiba.

Most tracker ninja followed physical clues, and would be blind to the fact that the enemy was dragging them in circles. If you did it right, like this ninja clearly had, you would end up tricking your pursuers into deciphering the maze of clues to figure out where they let off. Meanwhile, the target would vanish. They had not expected anyone but official trackers. This meant they were unaware of Konoha's shortage of ninja. Good.

Kiba's nose could pick up wafts of things, but he could not follow a trail in its footsteps. No, he would end up moving towards the enemy in the shortest distance possible, where the scent was strongest. That completely nullified any attempt to trick him with trails.

"The scent lingers off ahead…" Kiba whispered quietly, unsure of what lay beyond the trees. As the team emerged, they came upon a hidden entrance into a cavern. Hinata gasped at the immensity of it. Kiba stood speechless. Finally, Kurenai spoke.

"It seems this is our destination. Let's scout it out and go home. It should only-"

Suddenly the ground erupted below them; the entire environment seemed to shake as the being arrived from beneath the planets surface. Caught off-guard, Hinata stumbled and fell backwards, away from the group. Kiba, Naruto, and a Kurenai suspended in midsentence stood their ground as the shadowy figure emerged from below.

It was clearly not an ordinary creature. It was a snake, or some type of eel. It was at least 14 feet long, which was an estimate since only about half of it loomed above ground. It was as thick as the thickest tree trunk. Of course, that could be expected of a guardian creature or summon, but this one? It was made entirely of bone, nothing but bone.

Kiba's eyes widened, glaring up at the monster. Akamaru whimpered and buried his head under Kiba's mat of hair. Naruto's expression curved into a scowl, fully ready to attack, his fists clenched by his sides. Hinata could do naught but gape at the infinitesimally large being before her. Shino stared it down without batting an eye… as far as anyone could tell, at least. Kurenai, her eyes closed, seemed deeply troubled.

"What's wrong, sensei?" Kiba asked grimly, never batting an eye from the serpent.

"It's a summoned creature. That means someone summoned it."

Shino nodded, understanding.

"So?" cried Naruto, oblivious as ever, "Does that mean we don't have to fight this thing or something?"

"No, idiot," stated Kiba, "It means the person that summoned it is still nearby."

Of course, being unable to sniff him out, there was really only one way to locate him. Kurenai turned to Hinata, offering her hand, "Hinata, can you see them?"

Accepting her sensei's outstretched arm, she nodded and began forming hand seals.

"Byakugan!!"

Everything turned a dull blue, and Hinata scanned the perimeter, experimenting with the out-of-body sense the byakugan gave her. She scanned from the air and the ground, from ahead and behind, and finally, when she located the cloaked figure, only dimly aware of its prescence, she pointed.

Kurenai nodded. "As I suspected. Thank you, Hinata."

The shy girl nodded and smiled, proud that she could show how useful she was in front of Naruto. Kurenai began forming hand seals. "Then the only choice is to…"

"…go after the guy while we hold off this lizard." Kiba slid in front of her, dragging Naruto along. Shino, too, stepped in between the two parties.

"Yeah!!" cried the eager blonde, "We'll crush this wimp!!"

Kurenai just sighed, shaking her head, "You guys are just too much… all right, I trust you. But don't endanger your lives, you hear."

Kiba, cocky as ever, grinned. "We won't. You had better not either, sensei!"

She smiled. She had truly trained an extraordinary team.

* * *

Naruto smirked, not facing his allies, but addressing them all the same, "So, what's the plan?"

"Yeah, don't die," replied Kiba. His eyes growing more bestial, his fingers and toes shaping into claws, Kiba lunged at the enemy on all fours.

He unleashed a mighty roar and slammed into the bone snake full force, knocking it backwards but not to the ground. Closely following were thousands of replicas of the annoying blond ninja. Kiba would never forget them knocking him around during the chuunin exams. This time, at least, they were on the same side.

"Shadow Clone Barrage!!"

Then Shino appeared, placing a palm to the snake's underbelly.

"Parasitic Insect Jutsu."

The creature, clearly in distress, seemed ready to break- metaphorically, at least- when suddenly it unleashed a deafening roar that knocked even Hinata, who had remained behind, backwards. All three ninja were sent hurtling into the trees beyond.

* * *

Kurenai looked around, hiding within the tall grass. Hinata had directed her over this way, towards this old gnarled tree. Where was he?

She saw something out of the corner of her eye and unleashed the shuriken in her hands, allowing them to strike their target. She grinned. That was him, all right. He even looked like a ninja from Kaosugakure.

Suddenly, there was a puff of smoke, and he was gone. Kurenai cursed under her breath.

"Just a clone…"

* * *

Hinata's eyes widened, not because she had been knocked back by an unseen force, but because Naruto and the others had taken the full blast of it. Her hands instinctively rose above her chest, clutching each other so tightly she felt beads of sweat forming.

It wasn't that she didn't want to run over and help, it was more the fact that she couldn't. Her legs felt like lead weights at the moment, weighted to the planets core. What could she do? She began to wonder why she was even here. After all, she was not as gifted as the others. No, she couldn't hold her own in a battle like they could. All she could do was watch.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!!"

"Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: Tunneling Fang!!"

Another barrage of attacks struck the enemy, Naruto grabbing the beast's slippery body, and Kiba mercilessly slammed into its head, plowing it towards the ground. The beast attempted to unleash another devastating roar, but it seemed that Kiba was pressing its jaw shut. Hinata smiled, that was good for him.

She had trained for so long, but that was against Kiba and Shino, no this monster. How could she possibly fight something that _big_!?

Suddenly something burst from its spine, a sharp, jagged bone, piercing the Narutos' and causing several puffs of smoke to rise from the creature. It lifted its massive tail and swatted at the spinning Inuzuka Kiba was sent hurtling through the forest's at a dangerous velocity.

The snake, meanwhile, dove underground, ready to finish the others off. Hinata trembled with fear, when she suddenly remembered something.

How many hours, days, and months even, had she put into her training? Had she done it all just to cower in fear while those who believed in her were risking their lives? She had pushed herself so far for the respect of her father, her teammates… and Naruto.

No! That was it! No more hiding! She would not give up that easily! She was stronger now, she had seen to that! Those endless hours spent practicing with her teammates, training alone into the silent hours of the night, those meant something! She would not let them just be wasted memories. She would do whatever she could to help!

Naruto sat on the floor, having been thrown off the giant worm when it buried itself below ground. He looked around, confused as to where it even was. What could he do now!?

Hinata's eyes widened as she saw something move below ground. Her Byakugan had definitely picked up some movement…

"Naruto! It's coming up over there!!"

He smirked and summoned a posse of shadow clones to jump at where Hinata had pointed. Moments after they had dog piled the spot, the beast lunged out, surprised to be met with ten fists in its face. It tried to swerve, but it was too late. The clones latched on and unleashed hell.

However, it didn't seem to be enough. The creature was resisting every punch, and seemed to be inten on smashing them all into the ground. This didn't look good…

"Ninja Art of Beast Mimicry: Fang over Fang!"

A pain of demonic torques flew at the skeletal head, smashing into it and scooping up the Narutos as well. The clones poofed out of existance, but the real one ended up being thrust into the arms of Hinata, who, of course, blushed furiously and dropped him immediately.

"All right, Akamaru! Let's do this!!"

**Next Time!!**

Well, they beat the snake, but I can't say how. It looks like the next destination is into the lair to check things out!... but, what lies within? Perhaps there are dangers here greater than one could imagine... there may be more skeletons soon!


End file.
